Archer Of Hope: Part One: Stardust's Destiny
by emmc27
Summary: Lara and her sister's all possess supernatural powers, bestowed onto them at birth to balance the world's light and darkness, They only learn about them when a dubious letter from an anonymous sender alerts them of the existence of their unnatural abilities. Unwittingly they abducted and boarded onto the obscure "ARK", for the sender's questionable "Research" into their abilities.


Lara pulled the string back on her bow, her blue eyes narrowed on to the target; she steadily aimed the point of the arrow, her eyes focusing down the shaft. She inhaled a slow breath before releasing the string and firing the arrow. The arrow soared towards the target in slow motion and struck the bull's eye with astonishing accuracy.

"You did it again" shouted an excited voice from her left side. Lara's ears pricked and she smiled, she knew that voice all too well. It was her younger sister Lauren who rushed over to her wrapping her arms tightly around her sister's waist looking at her with gleaming almond brown eyes. Lara gently lifted her sister's small rounded hands off her waist and beamed at her younger sister. It was always nice to see her after a long day of exercising her exhausting set of powers. "It's good to see you Lauren, how's Violet?" questioned Lara

Her sister instantly responded "She's helping Mother make dinner, she couldn't be bothered to come out again. She said that she felt fatigued again"

Upon saying this, Her sister's eye's slowly edged to the ground, they had lost their initial luster and she had a woebegone expression etched onto her face. Lauren's black hair had also slipped from her shoulder and hung in front of face as she bowed her head down. Her sister then whispered a barely audible sentence through the thick curtain of hair that shadowed her face.

"She's been having those crazy premonitions again"

"You been the one's where she see's all those people getting slaughtered?" asked Lara disconcertingly

"Yes… I think" Lauren whispered, her eye's still downcast.

Lara placed her right hand onto her sister's shoulder reassuringly.

"She's just been having nightmares… She'll be fine" Lara soothed. Using her left hand, Lara tucked her younger sister's black hair behind her ear to reveal her sister's despondent face. Her eyes were glassy and full of sorrow. She had lost all signs of the spunk that she had shown earlier.

Her sister then suddenly grasped her close by her clothes, gripped her shoulder tightly and pulled her into a compacted hug and began sobbing loudly.

"It's just that… those awful dreams never seem to subside… they grow more and more intense... Violet's screams grow more bestial and hoarse every night…" Lauren cried out.

Lara just stared down at her sister with a pitiful gaze; she didn't really know what to do. She was the guardian of hope, but that didn't mean that she could enter people's dreams and purify them. Her duty was to give people a light when all they faced was darkness. She was capable of much but she couldn't even do something as meagre as console her own sister. She swallowed the lump in her throat and simply remained taciturn.

Lara took her sister's hand which hung woefully limp by her side and began down the forest track home with her bow in the other hand. Lauren's expression was still as forlorn as before. The fur around her eyes was slightly lank from her previous tears. She walked slowly dragging her legs ponderously down the bare dirt track that lead to their small home practically in the middle of nowhere. Lara sighed inwardly. Since Lauren and Violet were twins, they were always worried about one another and their minds were almost in sync with one another. So when one was upset the other was and when one was happy the other was too. They could often barely be prised apart. This was why Lauren was so stressed about her sister, as they almost had an invisible rope intertwining them together that could never be undone no matter what hardships they went through. Lara was anxious about her sister's well being too but there was really nothing she could really do other then comfort them. When they were truly upset however, she often felt helpless and honestly couldn't do anything. Lara let these thoughts sink in and gritted her teeth.

The two finally arrived back at their tiny cottage with whitewashed walls and ordinary square windows, which omitted a homely orange glow of candlelight. Lara pushed the wooden door carefully which creaked as she did so alerting her Mother of their arrival. Her father would probably still be out. After her sister had walked in, Lara pushed the door closed. She was immediately greeted by her mother's soft gaze.

"Hello you two, how was your day?"She beamed as she continued to stir a bubbling pot of stew with the invigorating smell of roast beef. Lara suddenly found herself feeling voracious and remembered she hadn't eaten anything else that day. Her stomach then growled loudly. Lara turned her head away from her mother and sister embarrassed at the offending noise.

"Well, that might not be happening if you hadn't left your breakfast on the table this morning" her mother stated with a playful smile on her face, pointing her wooden spoon to the lunch canteen that Lara had carelessly left behind. Lara grinned sheepishly, before spying a letter next to the paper bag which contained her forgotten lunch. She picked up the letter which was made of expensive glazed paper giving the envelope a glossy sheen under the dim candlelight. Her mother then turned around with a salt shaker in her mouth. She deftly removed it when she realized it was there.

" I forgot to mention that letter arrived for the three of you today, I don't know who sent it though and we don't usually get mail because of our rural isolation" she said quickly before turning back to her simmering pot.

"Well are you going to open it?" asked Lauren with a monotone voice. Her expression still unchanged from earlier.

"Of…Course" Lara replied suddenly flinching at her sister's expressionless tone.

Lara began to tug at the wax seal on the back of the shiny envelope which depicted a star and moon insignia.

"What symbol does this belong to?" Lara inquired to her mother who stared at it intently.

"I have no idea dear, maybe the letter inside will tell you" she suggested

"I've seen that before" came a voice from the hallway adjoining the dark kitchen. The silloughette of a young fox flickered on the murky beige walls of the kitchen. She treaded slowly into the orange light of the candle, her dull brown eyes shining aglow.

"Violet, where have you seen this before and what does it mean?" Lauren asked from the corner of the room.

"I've seen it in my dreams, written on the walls in viscera and blood" she stated flatly her expression dour. "I've also seen it in other, rather… lugubrious images…" she continued, flicking her hair sharply over her shoulders.

Lara's eyes widened at her sister's gruesome precognitions, she then nervously opened the suspicious letter which was printed onto smooth cartridge paper. Lara held the letter under the minuscule light of the candle so she could read it aloud.

_Dear Lara, Lauren and Violet,_

_I am writing to tell you that from my observations that you would be ideal candidates for our research into a cure of a horrific disease. You all have unusual powers which all have a high chance of containing healing properties. _

_Lauren's and Violet's in particular may be able to create a universal cure for all the maladies of this world. _

_Lara's abilities also seem to be exceedingly powerful. With our help she could learn to control her powers which could allow her to be an amazing defender of good on this planet._

_We could also teach her how to extend her powers beyond archery and teach her complex aerial skills which would put her wings to use. _

_With your help and our research, we could improve the world dramatically. We will arrive to collect you on the 5__th__ of September. _

_Yours Sincerely_

"_Purple Silhouette"_

**(Head of ARK Biochemistry Dept)**

Lara put down the letter on the table in confusion only to pull an expression of pure befuddlement; she turned around to see that her sisters were even more confused. They were looking at each other, exchanging puzzled glances over the odd letter.

"How did they even know our names?" asked Lauren to no one in particular, her prior lack of expression replaced with a gaze of utter bewilderment.

Her response was a barrage of questions.

"What do they mean by powers?" asked Violet

"I didn't know we had any!" replied Lauren

"Who is Purple Silhouette?" they both stated in unison, No one in the room replied as they all had no idea who or what that unusual name meant. It sounded dubious and made all the girls in room wary of the anonymous sender's name.

The Perplexity in the room was palpable and an undertone of uncertainty and fear could also be felt from each girl. Lara stared down at her wings. She had never used them in her life as it was her preference to stay on the ground. She also wondered what they meant by "training" her powers.

She turned her irises back onto that crumpled letter from the girls and their mother fondling it trying to decipher what it truly meant. But the biggest question that lingered in the seep recesses of Lara's mind was not the aforementioned questions from her sisters. She had notice three particular letters in small print below "Purple silhouette" which had mystified her. "ARK" She let that single word fester in her head blocking out the confused remarks from her twin sisters. What was this "ARK"? And how had they known who they were? The words on the letter simply baffled Lara and her mind went slate blank as she tried to figure out what it all meant.


End file.
